


A Childhood Spent Alone

by FemSanzo291



Series: Marvel X Pokemon [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Abuse, Gen, Kid Bruce Banner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29543397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemSanzo291/pseuds/FemSanzo291
Summary: Robert Bruce Banner was always alone. His father hated him, and his mother wasn't allowed to be near him a lot because of that. He runs away to the woods and runs into an Oddish, his first, and for a long time, only friend.
Relationships: Brian Banner/Rebecca Banner
Series: Marvel X Pokemon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169798
Kudos: 3





	A Childhood Spent Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know much about Bruce Banner other then what I’ve read of the wiki pages and the movies, but from what I can tell I’m going with a more comics canon Bruce then what has been brought up in the movies.

As night fell on the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio in a normal-looking house there was a loud crash followed by the sound of the back door opening and closing. Now if you were to ask any of the neighbors what was going on they'd answer with, "Brian Banner has gotten drunk and violent again." They'd be right too. The door had been his young son escaping the house because the woods were always safer than his home. 

As he ran he tripped over what he at first thought was just a clump of weeds, but when he turned he saw that it was a slightly off-colored Oddish. The thing was tiny and let out an outcry of pain. As soon as the kid realized this he plopped down on his butt and started to apologize.

“I’m sorry for tripping over you. I didn’t see you there.” The boy reached out for the small thing and when it didn’t pull away he placed his hand on the Oddish’s leaves.

The Oddish made a happy sound and the boy smiled. “I’m Bruce.” The Oddish made a happy sound before walking into Bruce’s arms. Bruce stood and the two walked around together for several hours. When Bruce finally decided to go home he carried the little Oddish to the edge of the yard. The lights in the house were dark, and he hoped that meant that his dad was asleep. He placed the Oddish on the ground before kneeling. “My dad doesn’t like Pokemon so you’re going to have to stay here. Go back to your woods.” 

The next morning Bruce’s mother, Rebecca, took him to the library before his father woke from his drunken stupor. Bruce immediately made his way to the Pokemon section and started to look for a book on Oddishes. When he found it he pulled it out, sat down on the floor there, and started to read. He found the images of wild Oddish and noticed that the one that he’d spent the night before with was shiny. He’d known that it was supposed to be blue, they were a common thing in the woods, but he hadn’t realized that it was the proper coloration for a shiny instead of a different genetic mutation. He put the book back and went to find his mother. 

That night there was a horrible storm, and as much as Bruce wanted to head outside and get away it was probably more dangerous outside than in. He stayed held up in his room to stay away from his father. The next after that it was clear and Bruce headed out into the woods. The moment he crossed the property line the little Oddish joined him. The two played together and if Bruce was in trouble the Oddish defended him. That night he hadn’t realized how late it had gotten when he started to get sleepy, but the Oddish had and had led him to an outcropping of rock that he could sleep under. Bruce slept in the woods that night with the Oddish watching over him. 

The two spent that night and many more just like it until the start of fall when Bruce has to go back to school. That doesn’t deter the little Oddish though, it had started taking up sitting right outside of the woods where it could see Bruce leave the house. It would even sleep a little further back in the woods if Bruce hadn’t shown up the night before. So it sees when Bruce leaves for school, and after seeing him leave the first day by himself walking out of its sights all alone and then showing back up much later in the day just the same it decides to join him. He walks with him to school and waits outside after Bruce explains that Pokemon are not allowed into the school. They walk back to his house together and depending on how it sounds in the house they sometimes go into the woods. 

This is how they spend the next few years. Sometimes Bruce asks the Oddish if it had family out there, but it would just make an unhappy sound and clings to Bruce even more. After the third time that it does this, he names it ‘Oddity,’ which he explains is short for Odysseus. 

Then late one night when Bruce was nine his mother shakes him awake and tells him to get dressed. “Why?” 

“Because we’re leaving.” Rebecca shows him the small bag that she’d packed. Bruce nods and gets ready and they leave the house. They thought that they’d been quite enough and Brian was drunk enough, but that was not the case. Brian Banner came out and attacked Rebecca as she tried to get into the car. She fell and there was a sicking crack as her head hit the pavement. Brian continued to hit her, breaking a few bones for a few more seconds before moving to his son. 

As Brian moved around the car Oddity came running. It let out a cloud of green dust at Brian as soon as he was close enough. It immediately put the man to sleep and he fell face-first onto the pavement. Oddity then jumped over Brian to get to the very shocked Bruce.

“Thank you,” Bruce whispered to the Oddish as he picked it up. He didn’t want to move from his spot in the backseat of the car. He just hugged the Oddish close. Eventually, one of the neighbors must have noticed the commotion and called the police because there were suddenly blue flashing lights in the periphery of his vision. 

“What’s your name, kid?” one of the officers asked as he kneeled next to Bruce.

“Robert Banner, but I prefer to be called Bruce.” Bruce’s grip tightens on the Oddish.

“Alright then, Bruce. Is that you're Oddish?” he asks point at the Pokemon. It was giving the police officer a death glare but seemed fine in Bruce’s arms.

“Not technically. It lives in the woods behind my house. I befriended it.” Bruce looked off to the side and the officer could tell that the kid didn’t want to lose his friend. He turned to his partner and asked, “Hey do you have any spare Pokeballs?” The man nodded and pulled one out of his pocket and handed it over. 

“Why don’t you try to catch the little guy?” The officer handed the Pokeball to Bruce. He takes it and taps it against Oddity. The Pokeball lets out a red light that surrounds the Oddish. Bruce holds onto the Pokeball as it shakes three times before letting out an audible click. 

Bruce smiles up at the officer, just now he realized that his father was no longer laying outside of the car. The police officer reaches in and pulls Bruce out of the car. The officer was expecting the kid to protest the contact, but Bruce just gripped the Pokeball tighter. The officer placed the kid in the backseat of the police car but left the door open. “If you want to get your Oddish back out you can. Just press the button.” The officer points at the white button on a Pokeball that he pulled off his belt. Bruce nodded and did so. 

It was half an hour before one of the other officers came over and told him that they were going to go to the station, get the Pokeball record with Bruce's records, and meet with the person in family services. Bruce nodded. 

In the end Bruce Banner ended up with his aunt Susan, Brain Banner was put in a mental institution for the murder of his wife and Bruce found that the only thing that he could trust was Oddity, his Oddish. 


End file.
